So I just had my motorbike stolen.. :'( Probably already been sold for parts by now.. <sobs>
But I wonder, are there cheap GPS tracking devices you can fit to your vehicles that are set and forget, always on, ie: connected to the battery but are low powered enough to not drain the battery?
Any good ones that offer real time accurate tracking with a nice app etc??
A $39 Android mobile + 12 V DC charger (assuming bike can supply "nice" no surge 12 V power) with an app that sends location blips 24x7, loaded with a cheap VirginMobile "no bill shock" (so, in case a thief finds it, they can't run up a big mobile Internet bill, fou you to pay), billed in 1 KB quantums (adjust blip-rate to insure data quota isn't ezxceeded, over life of quota; if you're lucky, there'll be a long-life [pre-paid?] data-only plan to suit).
Placing it where it'll see GPS satellites, but won't be seen itself shouldn't be too hard, ie, with all the plastic motorbikes have.
Alternatively, try one of those "Locate my Phone" apps, but if it only blips on-command from your other mobile - thief could find the device before you discover your bike's missing & try to locate it.
Let us know what you decide…
PS If you were an ACMA-licensed Radio Amateur
…you'd know (or could learn) about Ham Radio's APRS system's tracking functions & the world-wide relaying network, that helps get locations blips back to your computer (with some gaps in rural & Outback places, of course)… via radio & Internet.
(Eg, I have a $250 system (incl'g external GPS) that pumps out the blips free; you could build a cheaper one yourself, I think (Hams can't & don't charge other Hams to use their Internet-linked packet-radio networks ;-)
As said above, cheap android phone in the boot hooked to the battery is probably your cheapest option. You'll also need to buy a trickle charger if you don't ride the bike frequently to prevent the battery from being run down.
Unfortunately, adding a GPS tracker is of limited benefit, if they do the old white van job they're usually smart enough to chuck a shield cover over the bike to stop gps devices from working, and first thing they'll be looking for is a gps tracker when they get it to the shop.
Best anti-theft devices are a tilt alarm disc lock, chaining the bike to something solid, and having good insurance.
How about that Trackr thing that was one of the deals on here recently? Or Tile https://home.thetileapp.com/?utm_source=AdWords&utm_medium=C…? (was a google ad that showed up when I looked in this thread)
That seems to only work for Iphones (based on the "How it works" page) and also, i don't think it is a GPS tracker… It seems you need to be close to it before it activates. =\
heaps on ebay, model numbers are tk102 , tk103, tk106 etc, all have sightly different features
they come with software and do live tracking, have gps signal and gsm backup signal.
I think one of the models has extra low power drain for bikes, cant remember which one you will need to dyor.
can be a bit of a nightmare to do initial setup.
Damn, I'm sorry to hear about your bike.
Jaycar has a tracker. Ive never used it, but it exists
Link